Hey...
Okay here's the deal. I'm thinking of creating an IRC client, but the thing is.. i don't know what to use or how to make it so that it's waiting for incoming messages from the server AND sending whatever i type in at the same time. Any input is appreciated.. thanks

This is somewhat an involved process. You will need code on the server side as well as on the client side. You will first need to establish a connection to the server via sockets. Once that is done, you will need to pass the server a pointer or handle to your thread's message queue. After that is accomplish, the server will be able to post messages to your thread's message queue. Once the message is in your queue (the client side), you will then be able to process the messages from the server using your message loop.

This should start you off in the right direction. You should look at the msdn library for sockets, threads, and message queues. You should be able to start writing code from there. I hope this helps. If you need any more information let me know. Good Luck!